kansas city hyatt regency hotel walkways collapse

8/18/2019 KANSAS CITY Hyatt Regency Hotel Walkways Collapse

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INTRODUCTION

On July 17, 1981, two suspended walkways within the atrium area of the

Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas ity collapsed lea!ing 11" people dead and

18# in$ured% &n terms of loss of life and in$uries, this was the most

de!astating structural collapse e!er to take place in the 'nited (tates%

)he Hyatt Regency consists of three main sections* a high+rise section,

a function -lock, and a connecting atrium area% .s -uilt, three suspended

walkways spanned the atrium at the second, third, and fourth /oor le!els

and connected the high+rise and function sections% )he second /oor walkway

was suspended from the fourth /oor walkway which was directly a-o!e it% &n

turn, this fourth /oor walkway was suspended from %the atrium roof framing

-y a set of si0 hanger rods% )he third /oor walkway was oset from the other

two and was independently suspended from the roof framing -y another set

of hanger rods%

&n the collapse, the second and fourth /oor walkways fell to the atrium

/oor, with the fourth /oor walkway coming to rest on top of the lower

walkway% 2ost of those killed or in$ured were either on the 3rst /oor le!el of

the atrium or on the second /oor walkway% )he third /oor walkway was not

in!ol!ed in the collapse%

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CONTENT

a) What and how is (are) the code of ethics violated by the people

involved (enineers! "anae"ent! local a#thority!

overn"ent) in the case$During January and February, 1979, the code of ethics has been violated when the safety

of the people was neglected when there was a changed in the design of the hanger rod

connections in a series of events, where the design from a one-rod to a two-rod system to

simplify the assembly task and doubling the load on the connector, which ultimately

resulted in the walkway collapse !here was also communications controversy and

irresponsible between the fabricator "#avens $teel %ompany& and the engineering design

team "'%( )nternational, )nc& where the fabricator claimed that his company "#avens&

telephoned the engineering firm "'%(& for change approval #owever, '%( denied

*n *ctober 1+, 1979, while the hotel was still under construction, more than 7 s.uare

feet of the atrium roof collapsed because one of the roof connections at the north end of

the atrium failed )n testimony, '%( stated that, on three separate occasions, they

re.uested on-site pro/ect representation during the construction phase0 however, these

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re.uests were not acted on by the owner "%rown %enter edevelopment %orporation&,

due to additional costs of providing on-site inspection and taking cost benefits. (ven as

originally designed, the walkways were barely capable of holding up the e2pected load,

and would have failed to meet the re.uirements of the 3ansas %ity 4uilding %ode !he

acts had violated when they create an danger environment when ethical behavior is

neglected

b) What #idance "iht one (or "ore) of the enineerin society

codes of ethics provide in handlin or preventin the event

fro" happenin$ )he code of ethics, engineers should use as guidance is that, engineers

shall appro!e only those engineering documents that are in conformity

with applica-le standards% &n this case when engineering 3rm 56%%

gi!e appro!al to the changes made in the structural drawing design

from single to dou-le hanger rod -o0 -eam connection% )he

engineering 3rm agrees to change the design -y assuming the

fa-ricator knows to apply stiener plates omitted% (tiener are used to

transfer the !ertical loads from rods to the -eam we-s therefore

pre!enting -uckling, 6illum assume the fa-ricator that is Ha!ens (teel

ompany know to -uild the stiener -ut the fa-ricator didnt thuscausing the collapse% &n addition the walkway was poorly constructed%

Octo-er 1:th 1979, part of the atrium roof collapsed while the

hotel was under construction% &nspection team was called in, claim no

o-ligation to check the engineering or design work -eyond their scope

work% thically the engineering 3rm should inspect the cause from the

-eginning during construction to pre!ent this tragedy% )he inspection

team might not know the engineering work or design of the hotel, -ut

the engineering 3rm should take responsi-ilities to inspect the cause of

collapsed% )his shows the importance of accuracy and details in

engineering design and drawings particularly regarding re!isions, and

the costly conse;uences of neglecting on this matter% )he engineer

should always monitor the construction instead of gi!ing all the

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responsi-ilities to the constructor of fa-ricator, -ecause they are not

professional in engineering 3eld%

c) Use ethical theories (#tilitarianis"! d#ty and riht ethic or

virt#e ethic) learn to analy%e the case& Consider all possible

ele"ents that are a'ected in the case& I&e& "anind!

environ"ent and society&.ccident happens when constructor of -uilding !iolate the ethical

theories that should their follow% &n this case, we can analy<e the case

following the ethical theories in order to see the eect of this case after

the -reak of the rule in constructing a -uilding% =irst ethical theoriesare utilitarianism which de3nes as a -alance -etween good and -ad

conse;uence of an action -y taking into account the conse;uence for

e!eryone aected% >ooking in good side, -uild the walkway for people

to use is one of a good things -ecause it can easy for people to go

through for a position to another% &t makes people less tired -y walking

up the stairs% )he pro-lem is getting -ad conse;uence when the

contractor or engineer does not make it in clean way% )he engineer does not make a calculation during the -uilding of

these walkways% ?ecause of this failure, the walkways are not

supported many people to use it and it gi!ing harm to people so that

this tragedy happens% ngineer is not following the rule to make to

thoroughly check their new design% )hey thinking of cost -ene3t -y

precede the construction when there is a collapse happen while the

hotel is under construction% )hey want to make a -iggest pro3t -y not

thinking the conse;uence to other people% )hey does not stop the

construction -ecause they afraid of losing money% Other ethical

theories are duty ethic and right ethic% @uty and right ethics are

similar% &t holds the action is good that respect the right of indi!idual%

.s an engineer, they should take an action -y seal the papers

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immediately without doing actual calculation to ensure the safety and

practicality of the design% .ll engineers that in!ol!ed in this

construction are !iolating the deontology propose -y duty ethics% )hey failed in -uild the safe -uilding for e!ery people to use%

)hey also should -e responsi-le for the full !ersion of calculating the

load that the walkways can ha!e yet they $ust assigning one of team

technician sta to do the calculation with the risk that he may do them

properly or he may not do at all% !ery guest of the hotel ha!e their

own right to ha!e good safety in renting the hotel -ut engineer fail to

-uild the safety -uilding for all people% >astly is the !irtue ethic which

determines the moral and goodness of person% ngineer that in!ol!ed

in this case are all immoral as they fail to doing the calculation -ythem self and gam-ling other people li!es% )hey are not diligent

fa-ricating the -uilding as their fail to follow up a-out the design

alteration% )hey also lacked prudence when they did not communicate

well with the fa-ricator%

d) naly%e the fact#al! concept#al and "oral iss#es in the case&

pply either the line*drawin techni+#e or the ,ow chartin

techni+#e to -nd a sol#tion for the case& .#stify the #se of yo#rchosen techni+#e&!he factual issue in this case is the #yatt egency in 3ansas %ity, 5issouri was

collapsed on 1961, the +-story tower after + years of design and construction collapsed

at the part of second and fourth floor suspended walkways and 11+ people died and over

people in/ured !he conceptual issue in this case is the suspended walkways was

designed to make people move on easier from second floor to fourth floor but the

designer not give an importance on safety parts !he moral issues in this case are the

designer was not responsible on peoples life !hey comfort people by telling this

building is safe to use Designers lied to the people to make profit for them Flow

charting techni.ue was very helpful for analy8ing a variety of cases, especially for the

case which have conse.uences that flows from each decision

A



Owner wo#ld lie to b#ild s#spended walways in /yatt Regency

Is that this walways safety$

Cost e'ectiveB

0tart to b#ild

Ces

Ces

DO

Do

Cancel the desin

0tart new pro1ect

e) What should the people involved (engineers, management, local authority,

government) have done differently?

First, engineers should approve the design change with checking it first not approved

without checking it and should responsibility for safety ranges from design through to

construction and inspection )n this case, engineers approved the design without check it

first Furthermore, engineers also should reanalysis and recheck all connector designs*ther than that, engineers should being honest and impartial, and serving with fidelity the

public, their employers and clients $econd, management should give when re.uested on-

site pro/ect representation to check all fabrication during the construction phase

5anagement also should discuss carefully with others such as owner and architect before

make a decision and being honest to their employers !hird, local authority should

maintain and improve technical competence and to undertake technological tasks for

others only if .ualified by training or e2perience or after full disclosure of pertinent

limitations !hen, government must always conduct and check carefully before approved

the pro/ect part from that, government should allow and give tasks to engineers that

who professional and e2perience

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2RO34E5 0O46IN7 TEC/NI8UE

)o sol!e the ethical pro-lem there are few techni;ues can -e used which

understands ethical pro-lems, analysis of issues in ethical pro-lems, line

drawing, /ow charting% &n order to de!elop worka-le ethical pro-lem+sol!ing

techni;ue, we must 3rst look at se!eral theories of ethics in order to ha!e a

framework for decision making% )here are four ethical theories which are

utilitarianism, duty ethics, right ethics, right ethics, !irtue ethics% )he second

techni;ue is analysis of issues in ethical pro-lems% . 3rst step in sol!ing any

ethical pro-lem is to completely understand all of the issues in!ol!ed% )he

issues in!ol!ed in understanding ethical pro-lems can -e split into three

categories which are factual, conceptual and moral% )he understanding theseissues help to put an ethical pro-lem in the proper framework and often

helps point the way to a solution% De0t is line drawing techni;ue% >ine

drawing techni;ue is especially useful for situation in which the applica-le

moral principles are clear, -ut there seems to -e a great deal of Egray areaF

a-out which ethical principle applies% >ine drawing is performed -y drawing a

line along which !arious e0amples and hypothetical situations are placed% .t

one end is placed the Epositi!e paradigmF and the other end is Enegati!e

paradigmF% )he other techni;ue is /ow charting% =lowcharting will -e helpful

for analy<ing a !ariety of cases, especially those in which there is a se;uence

of e!ent to -e considered or a series of conse;uences that /ows from each

decision% .n ad!antage of using a /ow chart to analy<e ethical pro-lems is

that it gi!es a !isual picture of a situation and allows you to readily see the

conse;uences that /ow from each decision%

CONC4U0ION

=ollowing the collapse of two suspended walkways within the atrium area of

the Kansas ity Hyatt Regency Hotel in Kansas ity, 2ayor Richard >% ?erkley

formally re;uested the Dational ?ureau of (tandards 5D?( to independently

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ascertain the most pro-a-le cause of the collapse% &n response to this

re;uest D?( carried out an e0tensi!e 3eld in!estigation to reconstruct e!ents

preceding the collapse and to esta-lish the condition of the walkways at the

time of collapse% )his included re!iew of documents related to the design and

construction of the walkways and measurements and inspections of the

de-ris remaining after the collapse% D?( also conducted comprehensi!e

la-oratory studies of materials and mockups representati!e of the walkway

construction and la-oratory studies of specimens remo!ed from the de-ris%

)hese studies were supported -y structural analyses of the walkways under

the loading condition -elie!ed to ha!e e0isted at the time of collapse%

RE9ERENCE0

a Ko, C%+=% 54G1G% oncepts and ases in ngineering thics% )H&(

.RO(( )H 'RR&'>'2, 1+7G%- ase study -y Dguee hin (eng on =orensic (tructural ngineeringc rof% Cu=uKo% 54G1G% )he Kansas ity Hyatt Regency Ialkways

ollapse, ase (tudies%d (peci3cations, Hyatt Regency, Kansas ity, ?D@2>, Kansas ity,

2O, .ugust 1978%e Kansas ity ?uilding ode, Kansas ity, 2O, June 1, 1977%

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kansas city hyatt regency hotel walkways collapse

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